DOHA (Qatar) - Fans have not seen Yasin Ismail play in the FIBA Asia Cup since 2013. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t been keeping himself busy. The Qatari legend sat down and talked with FIBA Asia Cup live on Instagram to give fans an update and talk about his Asia Cup playing days.

If you missed it, check out the replay of the interview on the FIBA Asia Cup IGTV.

After making his last Asia Cup appearance in Manila for the 2013 edition of the competition, Yasin said he played with the national team only one other time in GCC play before retiring in 2014. Since then, he’s been more involved with 3x3 basketball where he actually won the FIBA 3x3 World Championship in 2014.

However, Yasin is more widely known by Asian basketball fans for his reign of Stardom in the early 2000s where he was the main scorer. Over the total of 6 Asia Cups that he played in, 2003 was one that he lists as his favorite.

“Always the first one in 2003, the first time that we reached the Semi-Finals, the top four,” Yasin said. “We finished 3^rd place in Harbin, China. That one was the first step for Qatar basketball.”

He also said that the following Asia Cup in 2005 was just as special when Qatar finished at 3^rd place again by beating Korea to qualify for World Cup 2006 in Japan.

“Those two were the best.”

Yasin went back even further than Qatar’s glory days in the Asia Cup. The 2.03M (6’8”) forward traced back all the way to the beginning when he had just started to play, all the way to becoming one of the best young prospects in Asia.

Like most of his friends and other young kids in the region, Yasin grew up playing football which was the number one sport in Qatar. He played until he was about 13-years-old and even dabbled in track-and-field as a high jumper until he started playing basketball, merely by chance.

Once he started, it didn’t take long for him to make his claim as a star. After playing for only two years, Yasin was already a top scorer in youth tournaments and leading Qatar to success. After claiming scoring titles and MVP awards in several tournaments, he started getting invitations and scholarship offers from universities in the US. It was then that he realized how far basketball could take him and what he could do if he put even more focus into this.

In 1999, Yasin took another step further by standing out among some of the best young ballers on the planet at the FIBA World Championship for Junior Men.

“In Portugal ’99, I was the top scorer there,” Yasin said. “Over guys like [Andrey] Kirilenko and [Juan Carlos] Navarro from Barcelona.”

“So starting in 1999, I started feeling like I can play outside, I can play internationally.”

It didn’t take long for Yasin to prove that he could play internationally at the senior level. He made his first Asia Cup appearance in 2001 and immediately led the way with 19.0 points per game to led the team. Qatar finished in fifth place.

In the following years, Yasin maintained his status as one of the best scorers in Asia as Qatar went on back-to-back Semi-Finals runs. He felt that Qatar had one of the best teams in the Asia Cup during those prime years, expressing his disappointment that they did not win at least one title with their all-around line-up.

That is why he continuously showed respect for his Asia Cup opponents during those years whether it’s the likes of Wang Zhizhi, who he says is the “best power forward ever played in Asia”, or Iran’s golden generation of Hamed Haddadi and Samad Nikkahbahrami. He also shares a friendly relationship with Kazakstan’s Anton Ponomarev who even popped in during the live chat to say hi to his old friend.

And, of course, there is also Yao Ming who Yasin played against twice in the Asia Cup. Yasin was fortunate to have played against Yao both before and after the Chinese center went to the NBA and he had a nice story to share about their on-court encounters.

“Before the NBA, Yao Ming didn’t have as much experience and we always competed,” Yasin recalled. “Me and him, we were always [clashing] on the court, we didn’t like each other.”

“I remember when we played them, the young Yao Ming in 1999 and 2001, he didn’t speak English and he was a nice kid in the court. Then he went to the NBA and I remember we played them in the Semi-Finals in 2003 in Harbin.

One of our big men and he were taking the jump-ball and I was taking a position. So me and another Chinese player were fighting for a position. Yao Ming looked at me when I was pushing his teammate and then Yao started talking English and he started talking [trash] to me.”

“He was different. Totally different when you go to the NBA. He was a totally different player, he had confidence in himself and he was talking trash on the court. From there, it was a different Yao Ming until he retired.”

Those days of leading Qatar to deep Asia Cup runs and clashing with all-time greats like Yao Ming are in the past for Yasin. He still is and will continue to be highly involved with basketball, but there is one path in the basketball industry that he does not look to pursue.

“I don't like coaching at all,” Yasin answered when a fan raised a question of whether they will see him as a sideline tactician in the future. “I enjoy coaching the young kids, just for fun, and to enjoy it. But I don't like to [coach] because I played so long. I played for like 24 years, especially when you play for a national team, every year in the summer for three months and then you come back for the club team, That’s too much for me, so I can I don't need any more pressure. Just have fun.”

He having fun and enjoying some specific young kids in particular in his sons. He is already planning for his eldest son, Hamad, who is 14-years-old, to play in the US after already spending last year training in Florida. Yasin also has two younger sons who he has been coaching himself over the past few months.

“They are really good,” he proudly claims.

To wrap up his talk with FIBA Asia Cup, Yasin also talked about the future of Qatar basketball and Asia Cup basketball. He closed things off by thanking the fans from all over Asia for their support over the years.

Make sure to check out the entire talk with Yasin Ismail here!

FIBA